History of Filippoi

Α 17.5 km from Kavala is the Fillipoi area, which is connected to many exceptional historical figures and events that influenced the history of Europe. Impressive monuments, which have survived to this day, are evidence of the long history of the cultures that interacted and grew in this area.

The ancient city of Fillipoi, now the most important archaeological site in eastern Macedonia, lies on the edge of the marshes that cover the southeastern part of the Drama Plain. The site was originally colonized by the people of Thassos, who were led by the orator Kallistratos. Aware of the abundant supplies of precious metals, wood and agricultural products of the area, they established the city of Krinides in 360 BC. This is because the area of ​​Pangeos and especially the area of ​​Fillipoi very early attracted the interest of the ancient Greek world. Legends, myths, cults, historical events were closely linked to this place. This closeness to the Pangeo, with that intention was created Krinides, was for being a great religious centre with an ancient mythological tradition, but also an important economic factor with large forests and rich mines. The name of Krinides, sometimes also called Dathon, is due to the abundant waters that sprout in the area. Shortly after its establishment, however, Krinides was threatened by the Thracians (365 BC) for this reason they went to King Philip II of Macedonia for help. Realizing its economic and strategic potential, Felipe conquered, fortified and changed the name of the city by name.

King Philip realized the strategic and economic importance of this city, so after capturing it, he increased its population with Macedonian settlers and gave it his name. This I think the Macedonian city of Fillipoi. In this way a great fortification wall, a theater, several public buildings and private houses were created. The construction of Via Egnatia through the city in the 2nd century BC made Fillipoi an important regional centre. Fillipoi began to exploit the gold mines of the area, being in this city where the coins were cut. Theophrastus, who knew the region of Fillipoi, informs us that in the 4th century BC, with the establishment of the Macedonian colonists, an enormous labour of wealth is being carried out. A large part of the plain, which until then was covered with water and marshes, was drained. The desiccant work that has been achieved has resulted in the improvement of the region's climate. During the Macedonian domination, Fillipoi is one of the main cities of the Kingdom of Macedonia with economic prosperity and privileges. However, the population and the importance of the city with the flow of time are greatly reduced until the time of the Roman conquest (168 BC).

The dramatic Battle of Fillipoi, which took place outside the city's western walls in 42 BC, was a turning point in the history of the city. The city was conquered by Octavio and renamed Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis. The new Roman colony became a financial, administrative and artistic centre. Immediately after the battle, Antonio installed the first Roman settlers in the city, and a little later, in 30 BC, Octavio sent many settlers from Italy. The Roman settlers established themselves as bourgeois in Fillipoi, but also as peasants in the surrounding villages of the plain. This was the colony of Augusta Julia Philippensis, who annexed Voltinia and had its own rulers and its own administrative organization. The small city grew, its population varied with the installation of the Roman element, the Greek language was abandoned by Latin, which was the official language of the colony. Later, in the III-IV century AC, the Greek language reappears.

In Roman times, and especially in the Antonio years, the arts flourished in Fillipoi. Large, expensive buildings are being built, the Forum, the shopping market, the palaestra, the bathrooms and a large aqueduct that brought water to the city from the west side. Statues and monuments were erected that modified the infrastructure and the cultural aspect of the city. The religious beliefs of the local Thracian population and the Greek colonists were mixed with the beliefs of the Romans and the religious currents of the East and created the Colony Pantheon.

Another important event marked the history of the city a century later. St. Paul founded the first Christian church on European soil in Fillipoi in 49/50 AC. The inhabitants of Fillipoi were the first inhabitants of Europe who heard the preaching of the new religion. One day in 49 or 50 AD, a boat arrives at Neapolis (Kavala), and through the Egnatia road they arrive at the city of Fillipoi. Near the west side of the city wall there was a small river where the place of prayer of the Jews was. This is where the apostle Paul addressed his sermons to the people concentrated there for the first time. Lydia de Hyateira listens to him and is the first to take baptism of the new religion, being the first baptized Christian of Europe. Many days the Apostle Paul and his companions walk through the door of the Jewish Synagogue and proclaim the word of God. All the way follows a servant, in the world of Fillipoi, demonized, by the ability of their directors to earn money. This "demonized" servant receives the sermon of the Apostle Paul and shows faith in the new religion. He proclaims to the city how he was healed by the demon inside him. This resulted in the interests of their masters who arrested Paul and Silas and took them to the Agora. There they were beaten, mistreated and then imprisoned. For the night of his incarceration, the powerful earthquake that occurred at midnight and the baptism of the prisoner and his family, there is a detailed narrative in the "Acts of the Apostles." The next day they left them free. They went to the house of Lydia, where they were waiting for the first Christians of Fillipoi, and after receiving them, they went to Thessaloniki. The new Christian religion uses the language as Greek by displacing the Latin from the Roman settlers. From the third century AC the Greek inscriptions appear.

With the official recognition of Christianity by Megai Konnon as an official religion of the state, Fillipoi becomes the metropolitan seat of jurisdiction with 5-7 bishoprics. At this time, buildings are being built in the centre of the city, which changes its appearance. With the excavations appeared on the surface two large early Christian basilicas with a rich decoration. The findings of this era lead us to the conclusion that Fillipoi was a Christian society organized with financial convenience. The establishment of the new religion and the proximity of the city to Constantinople, the new capital of the Roman Empire, brought a new splendour. Three magnificent basilicas and the Octagon complex, the cathedral dedicated to St. Paul, were erected in the centre of the city in the IV-VI centuries. After a series of Slavic earthquakes and incursions, the lower city was gradually abandoned at the beginning of the 7th century.

Fillipoi survived in the Byzantine period as a fortress, until its final demise at the end of the fourteenth century. In the fourteenth century, with the civil wars of the Greek kings and the throne contenders, the Turks and the Serbs mingled with the Turks. Fillipoi camped in 1327 AC. The troops of Andronikos II and in 1342 AC. The troops of Ioannis Katakouzinos. The last reference to a campaign of historians, related to the name of Fillipoi, is in 1355 AC where Emperor Matthew Katakouzenos is campaigning against the Serbs. But the inhabitants of the city, who have some controversy with the Emperor Matthew Katakouzenos, participate in his arrest and deliver it to the Serbian ruler Vojhna.

Then come the Seljuk (Turks) who occupy Serres in 1383 AC, Christopoli (Kavala) the same year and Thessalonica in 1387 AC, after this they establish the Ottoman government with the administration and an army of occupation.

It is not known exactly when and how Fillipoi was abandoned. It is very likely that, according to historians and archaeologists, the desolation is due to the fact that the marshes reach their walls. In 1546-1549 AC who visited the city of P. Belon, the city was deserted. There were only five or six houses outside the walls in today's Krinides. The name of the city continues to refer to patriarchal laws and documents until the 18th century. The city had long since ceased to have life. Only his name was left. The first to visit the ruined city was the agony of Kyriakos in 1426-1430 AC. After that, Ioannis Laskaris and then as mentioned earlier by P. Belon.

Scientific research and study began with the work of the Frenchman L. Heuzey (archaeologist) and H. Daumet (architect) in 1861. Beside the ruined city of Fillipoi there was a small village inhabited mostly by Turks and was called Rajza. With the liberation of Kavala in 1913 by the Greek troops, the gradual escape of the Turkish element began and the old name Krinides was restored. With the catastrophe of Asia Minor in 1922, Krinides lived in the town with the settlement of the Papal refugees of Asia Minor.

The excavations at Fillipoi began in 1914 under the French School in Athens and were resumed by the Greek Archaeological Service and the Archaeological Society of Athens after World War II. The site is currently excavated by the Greek Archaeological Service, the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and the French School in Athens. The findings are stored in the Archaeological Museum of Fillipoi. Every summer (from May to September) the site is cleared of weeds.